Sunday, 29 September 2013

It came later than planned, but Eren has finally succeeded in taking on his Titan form - but can he really defeat Annie in her own Titan form this time around?

If nothing else, it seems that Annie has given up on trying to capture Eren again and is instead intent upon making good her escape - something which a now-furious Eren has no intention of allowing her to do. The result is utter chaos, as these two behemoths crash around the city destroying everything in their path, caught up as they are purely in their own struggle with one another.

As arguments continue beneath them between the various military factions, it seems as if Annie has once again gained the upper hand as she leaves Eren seemingly incapacitated to make a dash for the city walls. Eren is in no move to give up however, and if anything his resolve has only been strengthened as he gives chase once again. Although this appears to be too little too late, it seems that Mikasa also has no intention of allowing Annie to flee, literally cutting her down as she tries to climb the wall. This leaves her prone for Eren to end this battle and forcibly remove Annie from her Titan, but a moment's hesitation is a moment too long - although Annie is indeed captured, it isn't before she entombs herself in a prison of her own making into which nobody can intrude. With no prospect of obtaining information from her this appears to be another defeat for the Survey Corps, but perhaps their actions are at least enough to ensure their continued existence and the power to fight whatever evils lurk within the city walls.

It's rather fitting for Attack on Titan to end via an action-packed instalment such as this, as it's one of the elements that has made this series so compelling. I'm sure nobody would deny that this adaptation has had its issues, in terms of both animation quality and - more seriously - it's uneven pacing, but whenever this show was running at full pelt it was simply breath-taking to watch, and those highlights go a long, long way to extinguishing, or at least damping down, any of those aforementioned issues. It's easy to build a feeling of smug self-superiority but not liking what's hot in any given cultural medium, but in Attack on Titan's case its popularity is entirely justified - it builds a wonderfully realised, detailed and compelling world, seeds it with well fleshed-out characters and then flings them into the jaws of chaos and watches them fight for their lives. All of these elements would make for a good anime series in their own right, but meld them together and you have one of the most striking shows that we've seen in years. I'm not even going to bother expounding upon my hopes for a second season, as it's surely an inevitability.